We bet you'll do a marvelous job playing the cello with the rest of the band! We wish you lots of luck during your concert-- have a great time playing those five songs! That would take a really long time, Tom You can click on the word "wonder" in the bar at the top of each page in Wonderopolis and search away! If you're looking for a Wonder about a specific topic, you can enter that topic into the "search" block at the top right of the page.
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We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. What is an orchestra? Why do orchestras need so many people? What types of instruments do musicians play in an orchestra? Tags: See All Tags brass , chamber , conductor , ensemble , musician , orchestra , percussion , philharmonic , rhythm , solo , string , symphony , woodwind.
Wonder What's Next? Did you get it? Test your knowledge. Wonder Words orchestra ensemble variety string brass woodwind percussion chamber symphony philharmonic musician performance principal solo concertmaster conductor maracas gourd rhythm Take the Wonder Word Challenge. Join the Discussion. Nov 11, Jaden Feb 27, Me too tony! A smaller-sized orchestra forty to fifty musicians or fewer is called a chamber orchestra.
A full-size orchestra eighty to one hundred musicians or more may be called a symphony orchestra. A philharmonic orchestra does not indicate any difference from a symphony orchestra, but can be useful to distinguish different ensembles based in the same city for instance, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The instrumentation requirements of orchestras became somewhat standardized in the Classical Period — , based on the compositional habits of the most prominent composers of the period Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven , which were in turn largely influenced by the possibilities of the instruments available to them.
For example, the Baroque orchestra you hear on the SNS Baroque Series does not typically employ clarinets, as it was not invented until around the turn of the 18th century.
The 19th century woodwind section also saw an expansion in the number and types of instruments, with increasing use of the piccolo flute, the English horn, the bass clarinet, and the contrabassoon. Valves for brass instruments were not invented until the early 19th century, at which point there was a rapid growth in both the number and the prominence of trumpets and horns, beginning primarily with the works of Hector Berlioz.
At times Beethoven wrote individual parts for the double basses which until then almost without exception had doubled the cellos , a practice that soon became more common. Further extensions were mainly limited to brass and percussion. During the first half of the s, valve instruments became increasingly common among horn and trumpet players along with natural instruments, in the long run all but replacing natural instruments. But some composers, notably Brahms and Wagner, continued to use natural instruments, convinced that their timbre was unsurpassed.
Orchestral size has always been subject to variation, although the development towards ever larger orchestras clearly continues up to the time around World War I. This gradual increase was initially connected to the transfer of the orchestra from royal courts to the public domain.
Around , the string group had grown to 7 violas, 5 cellos and 7 double basses, and from here on the size of the string section was repeatedly extended. In his opera Salome , Richard Strauss calls for 16 1st and 16 2nd violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses. Along with the growth of the orchestra and the disappearance of the baroque continuo , the convention of leading the orchestra from a keyboard instrument customary even at the time of Mozart or entrusting this function to the leader of the 1st violins, also disappeared.
The history of the conductor — a non-playing musician — really took off after Plus 4 harps, a keyboard player and 5 percussionists. In all musicians, not counting a narrator, five vocal soloists, a huge choir and a separate male choir. The financial slowdown after the First World War and the worldwide Depression during the s led to a decrease in orchestral size, and since the Second World War the orchestra has essentially stalled at the relative size at which we find it today.
A modern full-scale symphony orchestra consists of approximately one hundred permanent musicians, most often distributed as follows: 16—18 1st violins, 16 2nd violins, 12 violas, 12 cellos, 8 double basses, 4 flutes one with piccolo as a specialty , 4 oboes one with English horn as a specialty , 4 clarinets one with bass clarinet as a specialty, another specializing in high clarinets , 4 bassoons one with double bassoon as a specialty.
In theory, all woodwind players are expected to be able to play all auxiliary instruments in addition to their main instrument.
Furthermore 5—8 horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones one with bass trombone as a specialty , 1 tuba, 1 kettledrum player, 3—4 percussionists of whom at least one must also play kettledrum , 1—2 harps and a keyboard player piano, celesta, harpsichord, etc. Musicians mastering instruments such as saxophone, guitar, bass oboe heckelphone , ondes martenot, synthesizer, etc.
Similarly, extra players are engaged when a score calls for extended brass, percussion, etc. Every instrumental section in the orchestra has a leader often referred to as a principal who leads the group and plays solo when this is required, for example flute solo, horn solo, cello solo or trumpet solo.
The leader of the 1st violins is called concertmaster and is in charge of the overall leadership of the entire string section.
Musicians are recruited based on competitive auditions today usually behind a screen for specific positions, e. The principal conductor takes part in the final selection. Permanent employment will normally require a test period, usually from six months to one year, after which a player with a permanent position can be dismissed only according to strict union agreements and internal rules[1].
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